25/08/2021
What is Europe’s greatest city?
Europe’s Greatest City? For Me, It’s a Four-Way Tie
What’s your vote for Europe's greatest city? It's hard for me to choose, but if pressed, I’ll say it’s a four-way tie: London, Paris, Rome, and Istanbul.
These four cities, while incredibly different, have one key thing in common, from a traveler's perspective: They can keep a visitor totally enthralled for at least a full week. Just thinking about those names stokes my longing to get back to Europe's amazing cultural capitals as soon as we can travel again. There's just something about big European cities that I find endlessly entertaining. They're springboards for diving deep into the countries they dominate. Their museums hold the treasures of an entire culture, gathered across centuries of history, through good times and bad. Their historic centers help you envision a time when that metropolis was just a few thousand citizens huddled in the shadow of a big church surrounded by a fortified wall.
Europe's cities showcase the past. And they also reflect the future, with stimulating public art and trendsetting eateries. They're a collection of neighborhoods — each with its own personality, thriving markets, and rituals of celebrating community. And you can never exhaust the artistic and cultural attractions they offer.
Enjoying my upstairs perch on a red double-decker bus…kerplunking a sugar cube into my coffee while people-watching from a sidewalk table of a grand café…savoring the passeggiata on a timeless and vibrant piazza…being swept up by competing calls to prayer from a forest of minarets: These are just a few of the memories I'll be creating, as soon as I can get back to Europe's great cities. What about you?